I still believe the 17 will be back and here is why:

[Bobby Corwen]

The reason they are making this gap is not because they don't want the 17, but rather to deal with the phase out of the whole old Pro line with the optical drives.

They only got rid of the 17 until they can come out with a retina version and There was no priority to make the 17 on the old line when they are trying to make it look obsolete.

I'm hoping the public outcry from Pros who used it as a desktop replacement will be significant.

Maybe they will just surprise us with a retina 17 later.

The reason is because the way they handled it. They said nothing about it. They just kinda showed what they have for now. Its a time of change. This is not some final lineup.

Righht??

I'm so sad.

 

[/dev/toaster]

The 17" represents something like 1% of the sales. That might not be enough to cover the R&D of new ones.

I had a 17" a long ways back, I really enjoyed it. However I had to get get rid of it because it was hurting my back lugging it around.

I wouldn't expect much in the way of updates for it.

 

[Stetrain]

I doubt the 17" will come back. If was going to live on I would think it would have stayed exactly the same.

There isn't enough demand for 17" Macbook Pros, especially at the price they would have to charge, to make the retina displays feasible to produce yet.

The 15" model works because it will get enough orders and is expensive enough to make it feasible to produce the displays.

Besides, the 15" retina has as much effective real estate as the old 17".

If it does come back it will be several years down the line when something like a 3840x2400 17" IPS display is economical to produce.

 

[Bobby Corwen]

The 17" represents something like 1% of the sales. That might not be enough to cover the R&D of new ones.

I had a 17" a long ways back, I really enjoyed it. However I had to get get rid of it because it was hurting my back lugging it around.

I wouldn't expect much in the way of updates for it.

Being forced into a junior computer sucks lol.

People talk about straining their backs carrying around a 17.

What about me having to strain my eyes on the 4th hour of editing a video on a tiny screen because not enough people buy 17s.

It accounted for 2% of sales, but that 2% was the most loyal fan base/

 

[sweetbrat]

If they weren't discontinuing it or updating it then they would have just selling it the way it was. The fact that it isn't for sale any longer (except as a refurb) means it's gone and almost definitely not coming back.

 

[VacantPsalm]

Yea, the situation is definitely set up for the 17" coming back. They want as many people to go for the Retina MacBook as they can, and taking away the 17" makes it the only (newest) option for people willing to spend >$2500 on a MacBook. (AKA, almost all of the 17" owners.) And they definitely couldn't offer a retina 17" without making it cost a crap-ton, 3840x2400 = 9,216,000 pixels. (Lol at your 5.1 mil.) If they wanted people to go retina, which they do, this is exactly how to do it.

However, rather or not they're actually bringing the 17" back seems way less likely. I'd love it if they did though, that screen would be stonking insane and they'd definitely get a nigh $3000 sale from me.

Curious, what happens to that 1-2% market share statistic if you exclude all the people who paid sub $2000 on their MacBook?

 

[Bobby Corwen]

If they weren't discontinuing it or updating it then they would have just selling it the way it was. The fact that it isn't for sale any longer (except as a refurb) means it's gone and almost definitely not coming back.

Not neccesarily. Maybe for the same reasons we think it wasn't worth keeping the 17 around, are the same reasons it wasn't worth an incremental upgrade.

The 15 and 13 will make their money back even for this incremental 3rd gen upgrade but a 17 woulda have.

Apple is being very quiet but we don't know if it is because of the change generations or because it stopped making them.

I feel like if the 17 was gone forever, they could have said something to give us closure to the many people who are angry about this.

Nobody really knows for sure. All we know for a FACT is they don't sell them at the moment during what is a transitional period.

Maybe they want to re-introduce the 17 in a way that will make more people buy them?

 

[iFanboy]

OP why did you just make up your own reason when the actual reason has been well documented?

17" macbook pro's had very low sales volumes. It just wasnt selling in sufficient quantities to justify its existance.

It was silently dropped an wont come back unless Apple has a reason to believe that it will sell in higher numbers in future.

 

[NewbieCanada]

It accounted for 2% of sales, but that 2% was the most loyal fan base/

Apple doesn't care about having loyal fans, they care about having loyal customers. They make products that appeal to me and I buy them. They don't make products that appeal to you anymore and you don't buy them. When they did make products that appealed to you it turned out they didn't appeal to many other people, so they wisely stopped making them.

 

[Bobby Corwen]

OP why did you just make up your own reason when the actual reason has been well documented?

17" macbook pro's had very low sales volumes. It just wasnt selling in sufficient quantities to justify its existance.

It was silently dropped an wont come back unless Apple has a reason to believe that it will sell in higher numbers in future.

Because Apple historically believed in keeping GOOD products, not just mass sellers. Loved products for what they were, not neccesarily what numbers they produced. The 17 is one of their best bombshell products.

 

[iFanboy]

Because Apple historically believed in keeping GOOD products, not just mass sellers. Loved products for what they were, not neccesarily what numbers they produced. The 17 is one of their best bombshell products.

Well no, thats just incorrect from beginning to end. Please point me in the direction of another of their products from their flagship lineup that is being kept around despite noone buying it.

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

The reason they are making this gap is not because they don't want the 17, but rather to deal with the phase out of the whole old Pro line with the optical drives.

Phase out? They updated the non-retina version. Why should they do that, if they see no future for MBPs with ODDs?

 

[boy-better-know]

They discontinued it because there was little demand for it, simple as that. I used to have a 17", and the screen was nice for multi tasking etc, but ultimately it didn't suit what I needed it for.
Apple seem to be pushing the whole slim and portable thing on the Pro range now, and a 17" is a huge contradiction of this.

 

[Bobby Corwen]

Well no, thats just incorrect from beginning to end. Please point me in the direction of another of their products from their flagship lineup that is being kept around despite noone buying it.

The Mac Pro, mini, Apple TV.

It's about having everything covered. The contrast between products helps detour people to buy the IT products in a healthy way. The illusion of choice is good to a certain extent.

I don't think you understand Steve Jobs' ideas as much as I do.

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

The 17" represents something like 1% of the sales.

Sales of what?

That might not be enough to cover the R&D of new ones.

All Unibody MBPs are more or less exact copies of larger or smaller models. So the R&D costs for the 17" retina should be pretty minimal.

I had a 17" a long ways back, I really enjoyed it. However I had to get get rid of it because it was hurting my back lugging it around.

Such an invalid argument. One pound more does not cause any problems.

 

[NutsNGum]

I don't think you understand Steve Jobs' ideas as much as I do.

Did you take lessons from LTD?

 

[Dangerous Theory]

Let's be honest. If you've got a 17" laptop, you're not gonna moving around much with it.

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

They discontinued it because there was little demand for it, simple as that.

And where is the press release?

 

[Bobby Corwen]

They discontinued it because there was little demand for it, simple as that. I used to have a 17", and the screen was nice for multi tasking etc, but ultimately it didn't suit what I needed it for.
Apple seem to be pushing the whole slim and portable thing on the Pro range now, and a 17" is a huge contradiction of this.

You don't know that, nobody does. All you know is that they don't sell it at this time and nobody knows why.

I believe they decidedly left the door open for a Retina 17 the way the handled the unveiling.

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

Let's be honest. If you've got a 17" laptop, you're not gonna moving around much with it.

Because it is 2" larger and 1 pound heavier? Are you kidding me?

 

[baller1308]

I think people bought the 17" for the screen real estate. But now with the 15" retina, you can get more real estate in a smaller package. I don't see the 17" coming back. There aren't many manufacturers making the 17" these days. When you go shopping it's rare to see multiple 17" on display for any brand laptop.

 

[Bobby Corwen]

I think people bought the 17" for the screen real estate. But now with the 15" retina, you can get more real estate in a smaller package. I don't see the 17" coming back. There aren't many manufacturers making the 17" these days. When you go shopping it's rare to see multiple 17" on display for any brand laptop.

I think you misunderstand how that works. The space will be relative and still be similar to an old 15 just with a higher pixel resolution and more crisp text than ever before. It won't actually give you more screen real estate otherwise everythin would become too small.

There is no substitute for screen real estate and for us power users who used it as a desktop replacement, it is hard to downgrade to that after being used to 17 for years.

 

[Fastball32]

One option is to eventually decrease the bezel size and increase the screen size of the current MacBook Pro 15".
They could easily move it from 15.4" to a 16", thus satisfying more of the 17" fans.
Hopeful, but not likely.

 

[CrAkD]

i played with the 15" today I don't know why you would want a laptop any bigger. Get a thunderbolt display for home and be done with it.

 

[boy-better-know]

You don't know that, nobody does. All you know is that they don't sell it at this time and nobody knows why.

I believe they decidedly left the door open for a Retina 17 the way the handled the unveiling.

May I refer you to your first post where you said "They only got rid of the 17 until they can come out with a retina version". - You don't know THAT, no body does.

I only said what I said because I read somewhere that 17" Macbook pro sales make up 1% of Mac sales. I think it was in an article of this very site. I'm not just typing stuff that I just made up in my head.